There is a certain peace to Toseef Mughal’s steady grin that reveals a quiet acceptance.

Seven months ago, he fell ill with complications from a common strep throat. The infection spread to his bloodstream and caused his organs to shut down. Doctors were forced to amputate part of both feet and the tips of several fingers to save his life.

On Saturday, the Allentown fire police will host a fundraising event at the Allentown Fairgrounds to aid in the 9-year-old boy’s recovery and to assist the family with mounting medical bills. His father, an Allentown fire police volunteer who served with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, is unemployed.

“I’ve been to Iraq,” said Shoukat Mughal of South Whitehall Township, “and I’ve never seen something like this. I like to get the warning so that I can prepare, but there were no symptoms, there was nothing.”

Mughal’s family is originally from Kashmir, a Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan. His father recently traveled to the United States to help with the crisis, but the stress seems to have taken a toll on him. He recently underwent triple-bypass surgery in New York after suffering a heart attack.

“It’s been just a flood,” Mughal said. “Sometimes we look back and try to figure out how we did it.”

It’s a lot to take in, and they still can’t fathom what turned a common strep throat infection into a life-threatening affliction.

In February, Toseef had a sore throat. His parents took him to the emergency room, and he was released four hours later. The next morning, the boy was having trouble breathing. His parents brought him to their family physician, Dr. Sweety Jain, who noticed the boy was in danger, suffering from septic shock.

Toseef was taken back to Lehigh Valley Hospital and flown in a helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The boy spent 14 days on a ventilator and more than a month hospitalized. Doctors gave him antibiotics to battle the infection. The staff initially told Mughal that Toseef needed to have both hands and feet amputated. But the treatment reversed some of the damage in his extremities and doctors were able to save most of his hands and part of his feet.

It made a great difference. Toseef, a fifth-grader at Parkway Manor Elementary School, is now able to move with a walker. He can use his hands to play video games and is expecting to wear special shoes that will make walking a little easier. It’s still painful some days, but he doesn’t stay still.

His father once hoped that Toseef would join the military, but that dream is gone. What remain are Toseef’s dreams, and he has a lifetime to create them.

“The sky is the limit for him,” Mughal said, “and he is going to do a lot more than what we think he can do these days.”

Mughal, who has five children besides Toseef, is grateful to the Allentown fire police and to the community for the support the family has received so far. He is asking those who can afford it to help foundations responsible for researching sepsis so that other children can be spared from the disease.

The fundraiser runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fire police departments throughout Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks and Carbon counties will compete in several challenges. Local car clubs will display classic cars. There will be rides, food vendors and live music. Admission is $10.

To donate or to learn more about the event, contact Candy Dannenhower at Cuddlybear090@aol.com. Checks can be made to Allentown Fire Police, P.O. Box 386, Allentown 18105.

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ABOUT THE WRITERS

TIM DARRAGH has been reporting and editing the news for 30 years, most of it at The Morning Call. For much of that time, he's been doing award-winning investigative and in-depth reporting projects. Tim created the three-year-long Change of Heart project, and wrote a series on the state's fractured food inspection system that led to widespread improvements in food safety. Meantime, that novice jogger you see plodding along the streets around Bethlehem Township? That would be Tim.